Shareholder Approval : Only Thing Missing in MetroPCS, T-Mobile Merger
The MetroPCS-T-Mobile merger has jumped a major hurdle when the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. stated that there are no unresolved national-security concerns with the merger and that the review of the deal is over. Which means that the merger is free to go forward.
The only remaining obstacle is the approval of MetroPCS’ shareholders, who are scheduled to meet on April 12 to convene as to whether or not they would support the merger.
“The MetroPCS board unanimously recommends that stockholders vote their shares FOR all of the proposals relating to the proposed combination with T-Mobile by returning the GREEN proxy card they will receive in due course with a ‘FOR’ vote for all proposals,” MetroPCS wrote in its official statement regarding the merger.
“The failure to vote or an abstention has the same effect as a vote against the proposed combination. Because some of the proposals required to close the proposed combination require at least an affirmative vote of a majority of all outstanding shares, MetroPCS stockholders’ votes are important. If stockholders vote against the proposed combination, there is no assurance that MetroPCS will be able to deliver the same or better stockholder value.”
Earlier this week, MetroPCS revealed that majority of the members of the board of the merged company will be coming from Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s parent company.
Exiting DT chief Rene Obermann and incoming CEO Thimotheus Hottges, as well as other DT executives such as Raphael Kubler and Thorsten Langheim, will have a seat on the MetroPCS-T-Mobile merged company. T-Mobile CEO John Legere and two MetroPCS directors will also be joining the board.
T-Mobile is readying for a March 26 event where the company is expected to reveal changes to its technology and business. The major change is expected to be its shift in focus to “value plans” instead of subsidizing phones for contract customers.
Other concerns regarding the merger comes in the form of impending job layoffs. Consumers aren’t too worried about the merger perse since the deal is expected to deliver better services for consumers, but T-Mobile workers are afraid that their jobs are at stake.
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